{"id":64249,"date":"2025-12-08T14:23:06","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T14:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/64249\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T14:23:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T14:23:06","slug":"one-block-to-close-after-five-years-of-keeping-uws-streets-clean-uws-has-some-of-the-best-hanukkah-doughnuts-the-simpsons-producers-uws-apartment-is-on-the-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/64249\/","title":{"rendered":"One Block to Close After Five Years of Keeping UWS Streets Clean; UWS Has Some of the Best Hanukkah Doughnuts; ‘The Simpsons’ Producer’s UWS Apartment is on the Market"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A pigeon comes in for a landing on the USS Maine Monument in Central Park. Photo by Laura Muha,
\nToday is Monday, December 8th, 2025<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s forecast calls for a mix of clouds and sun, with a high of 31 degrees.<\/p>\n

It should warm up slightly later in the week, with highs on Wednesday hitting 43, with the possibility of rain.<\/p>\n

Forty-five years ago today, John Lennon was shot as he and his wife Yoko Ono walked through the archway of the Dakota after a recording session; he was pronounced dead on arrival at Roosevelt Hospital about a half hour later. His killer, Mark David Chapman, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison; Chapman was denied parole for the 14th time earlier this fall.<\/p>\n

Notices<\/p>\n

Our\u00a0calendar<\/a>\u00a0has lots of local events.\u00a0Click on the link or the lady in the upper righthand corner to check.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s Landmark Preservation Commission will hold a public hearing tomorrow afternoon on West-Park Presbyterian Church\u2019s request to revoke its landmark status and sell its building to a developer. The hearing is expected to start around 1:30, but participants should plan to arrive at least a half hour earlier. Community Board 7 has recommended against the revocation, but the commission will make the final decision. The meeting will be livestreamed on the commission\u2019s YouTube Channel, and participants also can log in via Zoom.<\/p>\n

More information on the hearing is \u2014 HERE<\/a>.\u00a0 Links to the YouTube livestream and Zoom are \u2014 HERE<\/a>. And if you need a refresher on the issues, check out this backgrounder story by NYCity News Service \u2014 HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n

Working your way through your holiday gift list? The city\u2019s Department of Small Business Services wants you to shop local, and the group has put together an interactive map to help. It\u2019s searchable by product, and in addition to pinpointing the location of hundreds of shops, it links to their websites wherever possible. Find the map \u2014 HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Department of Sanitation is now on its winter schedule, with beefed-up staffing overnight in case of snowstorms. But since overnight personnel have to stay busy even when there\u2019s no snow in the forecast, they\u2019re often deployed to clean streets and collect trash. That means that your trash may be picked up earlier than usual; the department recommends you put items out by midnight the night before scheduled pickup so as not to miss the truck.<\/p>\n

News Roundup<\/p>\n

Compiled by Laura Muha<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>One Block employees bagging trash on the UWS. Photo courtesy UWS archives.<\/p>\n

One Block UWS, the volunteer initiative founded during the pandemic to keep UWS streets clean, is closing after more than five years, largely thanks to new city guidelines for street-garbage pickup by anyone other than sanitation-department employees.<\/p>\n

Under the new rules, anyone bagging street trash must either leave it inside approved, locked containers, which cost between $10,000 and $30,000 apiece, or transport it to a sanitation department facility, the closest one being at 57th Street and 11th Avenue.\u00a0 \u201cWhat was I supposed to do? Put this in an Uber?\u201d founder Ann Cutbill Lenane told I Love the Upper West Side<\/a>. The department\u2019s new rules are related to its rat-mitigation strategy.<\/p>\n

The group, which started as a volunteer initiative, grew to include a handful of employees hired through the Association for Community Empowerment (ACE), which provides employment and training for people who are formerly or currently homeless. But keeping it going took a lot of effort on Lenane\u2019s part, and the sanitation department rules were the final straw.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe burden to keep ONE BLOCK going for the last FIVE YEARS has been heavy: raising $100K+ a year, managing the logistics, and making sure our workers were supported in many ways,\u201d Lenane wrote last week in announcing the closing on the group\u2019s Facebook page. \u201cWith that said, I would not change a thing. Seeing the impact we made on the streets of the Upper West Side has filled my heart with pride and joy, and I am so grateful to all of you who have cheered us on, donated, and helped us to fill more than 250,000 bags of garbage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently, the program employs two people, Jackie and Ramon, who have become familiar faces on the UWS in their green One Block T-shirts. Lenane said Jackie is being transferred by ACE to clean streets in another area of the city, and Ramon will be working at tth Vintage Boutique on West 25th Street. But both will be making less money in their new jobs than they have been with One Block, so Lenane said she had one last ask of the community:<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to give them both a last gift to lessen the financial loss they are facing, so please consider one last donation to us: https:\/\/oneblockuws.org\/donate.htm<\/a>, she wrote on Facebook, adding that 100 percent of any money donated will go to Jackie and Ramon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you all from the bottom of my heart,\u201d she added. \u201cIt\u2019s been a wild and wonderful journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the full story \u2013 HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Noam Furer, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency recently did a roundup of the best places to get the great sufganiyot \u2014 Hanukkah doughnuts \u2014 in the city this year, and UWS bakeries took the cake \u2014 or perhaps more accurately, the doughnut \u2014 grabbing five of the 15 top spots.<\/p>\n

Dating back to 16th-century Europe, sufganiyot (singular: sufganiyah) are round, pillowy fried balls of dough, typically filled with jelly or custard and dusted with powdered sugar \u2014 \u201ca greasy and delicious holiday staple that reminds us of the miracle of the holiday \u2014 how one day\u2019s worth of oil for the Temple menorah lasted for eight nights,\u201d as the Jewish Telegrapic Agency put it.<\/p>\n

But in recent years, many bakeries have begun riffing on the classic; for instance, Breads Bakery (1890 Broadway) is offering mango- and pistachio-filled sufganiyot this Hanukkah season; By the Way Bakery (2440 Broadway), whose products are gluten- and dairy-free and kosher, is offering doughnuts that are baked, not fried; Modern Bread & Bagel (472 Columbus Avenue) also has gluten-free, kosher brioche sufganiyot filled with chocolate ganache or raspberry jam; Orwashers (440 Amsterdam Avenue) has sufganiyot with fillings that include chocolate-raspberry and chocolate-cherry-apricot; and the kosher grocery Six60One (661 Amsterdam Avenue), is selling sufganiyot with caramel filling or chocolate glaze with sprinkles.<\/p>\n

Read the full story \u2014 HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Normandy Photo by Ryan Ng, via Attribution ShareAlike 4.0.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Simpsons\u201d writer and producer Al Jean recently listed his three-bedroom UWS apartment in The Normandy, a landmarked co-op building on Riverside Drive, for $8.75 million, according to The Robb Report.<\/p>\n

The seven-room apartment features wraparound terraces, two wood burning fireplaces, and views of Riverside Park, the Hudson River, and the George Washington Bridge.<\/p>\n

According to The Robb Report, Jean and his wife, Stephanie Gillis, purchased the apartment in 2019 for roughly $6.2 million and made substantial updates, adding a windowed powder room; a new kitchen with a marble-topped central island and an integrated snack bar; and seven built-in lacquer wardrobes in the 17-foot corridor\/dressing area that separates the master bedroom (and its wood-burning fireplace) from the rest of the living space.<\/p>\n

The apartment also has central air conditioning and a vented laundry.<\/p>\n

The Normandy, between West 86th and 87th streets, was designed by Emery Roth, a well-known architect of the era, who designed many other city hotels and apartment buildings. It was built between 1938 and 1939.<\/p>\n

It has a full-time doorman, a resident manager, a fitness center, bike storage, private storage, and a landscaped roof deck.<\/p>\n

Jean is a writer and producer whose work on early seasons of \u201cThe Simpsons\u201d is credited with helping to shape the long-running show. Until recently, he was one of two showrunners \u2014 the people with ultimate authority over each episode \u2014 but last month he announced on X that he was stepping down from that role. However, he added, he plans to remain involved with \u201cThe Simpsons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the full story and see photos\u00a0 \u2014 HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n

ICYMI<\/p>\n

The Disco Ball Causing Problems on West 86th Street: \u2018Extremely Disruptive\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

The Incoming NJ Governor Lived on the UWS and Delivered Her Baby in a Wild Cab Ride From the Neighborhood<\/a><\/p>\n

Another Bus That Services the UWS to Get Automated Camera Ticketing System<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Subscribe to West Side Rag\u2019s FREE email newsletter\u00a0here<\/a>. And you can Support the Rag\u00a0here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A pigeon comes in for a landing on the USS Maine Monument in Central Park. Photo by Laura…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-64249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}